27 April 2008

BBQ IN THE NEWS: World Record Attempt

Well, well, well...it looks like the upcoming competition in Pulaski just got a little more interesting. From today's Tennessean, columnist Gail Kerr has announced that the Giles County Kiwanis Club is going to attempt to make the world's largest barbecue sandwich.

The idea for this "event" was apparently conceived by KCBS judge Al Knowles as a way to boost lagging attendance at the Sun Drop Country Barbecue Cookoff. Organizers are hoping that both competition teams and the general public will want to be there to be a part of history.

So just how big of a sandwich are we talking?

This one will be at least 100 pounds ("Off the record? I think we could go 150," [Knowles] said) of top-notch Boston butt, donated by the Piggly Wiggly store (of course). It'll be cooked slow and low for up to 14 hours. Then it will be pulled by hand into one gargantuan pile of delicious sweet meat.

The would-be history makers are procuring a giant bun from a local bakery, and the pork butts are coming from Piggly Wiggly. So who's going to cook all that meat?

"We're going to get the cooking teams involved," he said. "We'll give them a couple of butts each to cook, if they so desire, so everyone will have a piece of it. So to speak."

So there it is: Ulika could be part of history in less than two weeks! Check back here for exclusive photos!

My only complaint is that I wish they would just ante up and pay the Guinness people to certify this so they can get in the book (apparently they're not, so the record will be "unofficial"). If you're going to go to all the trouble of making a 100 pound barbecue sandwich, why not go all the way and get recognized for it?